Mirrored Scars
by Zeroan
Summary: Weiss and Blake can be as different as day and night, but one bad decision by the faunus reveals that maybe things don't have to be that way. (Self-injury, Monochrome-y)


_Ping._

Blake leaned over the sink, her arms trembling tiredly as they supported her entire weight against the fragile porcelain.

_Ping._

The only sounds in the empty bathroom were the constant dripping of the faucet and her own shaky breathing, but to Blake, they echoed loudly in her ears, and she felt like she was standing in the middle of a busy traffic lane.

_Ping_.

She looked up, and the girl in the mirror stared right back. Dark hair, pale complexion, the pair of feline ears… And two yellow eyes.

_Ping_.

Those horrible, horrible yellow eyes…

_Ping_.

Suddenly, she let go of her hold on the sink and smashed her right hand against the mirror. Shards of sharp glass flew through the bathroom, only narrowly missing the girl.

Blake gasped and fell to her knees. Her head throbbed and her thoughts were scattered, but she still knew why she was all alone, breaking down on the cold floor of her team's bathroom.

As she looked down, her sight fell on a lone shard in front of her. Without thinking, she took it in her hand and raised it until she could once again see her reflection. Her eyes widened and her grip on the object faltered, but after staring at herself some more, she seemed to calm down.

She slashed downwards.

_Ping ping ping ping ping…_

-x-

"And _that_, ladies and gentlemen, is how I took down an entire swarm of Death Stalkers all on my own." Professor Port boomed proudly "Of course, that wasn't half as impressive compared to when I…"

Ruby groaned in exasperation. She was sure the professor had already told those tales at least three times before, and they hadn't been any more interesting than now. In fact, she didn't even believe they were completely true, and her colleagues shared the same mindset. Still, she had to at least pretend to be listening, or there would be hell to pay.

The redhead almost jumped in frighten when she felt something touch her on her side. When she looked to her right, her expression turned from one of boredom to full-out panic. Yang was leaning onto her, her eyelids closing slowly, and she had a goofy grin on her lips.

"Yang!" Ruby whispered distressfully "Don't sleep! Port will kill both of us, or worse!"

"Just a nap…" The blonde responded softly "No one will notice…"

The younger girl realized a drastic course of action needed to be taken quickly, so she yanked her sister's hair forcefully. Yang jolted awake and faced her team leader, ready to shout angrily at her, but a cough made her stop.

The two girls shared a look that clearly stated "We're screwed", and then they faced the professor, who was looking in their direction with disappointment.

"Miss Schnee." He called sternly "Are you dozing off in my class?"

Weiss, who was to Ruby's left, raised her head hurriedly and stared at Port, her eyes widened almost comically. The sisters looked at her in relief and confusion: it was not like the heiress to even look away from a professor, much less sleep during class.

"I-I wasn't dozing off, professor!" She defended herself nervously "I was… distracted."

Port raised an eyebrow, not buying the excuse. However, Weiss was one his most prized students, so he refrained from reprimanding her.

"You see, professor… My teammate, Blake Belladonna, stayed in our dormitory because she was sick." The white-haired girl explained, regaining her usual composure "However, I think it would be best if she were in the infirmary, and she can't get there alone. I was only worried."

"Hmm…" The professor scratched his moustache thoughtfully "I suppose that's a good enough reason for your behavior. If you wish to, you may leave class and help your friend in need."

Weiss smiled gratefully and got up. She gave her teammates a nod before walking to the door and exiting the classroom. After a few seconds, Port began his story all over again.

Ruby leaned on Yang's shoulder and whispered in her ear, with a bit of admiration on her voice.

"I didn't know Weiss was able to lie to a professor." She confessed "I mean, she's the perfect student, but apparently Port bores even _her_. And who knew she could make up such a good excuse?"

Yang nodded in agreement, though she had clearly taken more from the event than her sister had. It was expected: Ruby was younger and therefore less observant at times, so she had taken Weiss's words at face value.

"Yep, a pretty good lie." The older girl said "Let's hope Ice Queen will carry on, and not just return for the next class."

"Ah, she is probably waiting outside." Ruby shrugged.

Yang gave her a sly glance and smirked.

"Sure, sis." She muttered "Whatever you say."

-x-

The first thing Weiss registered as she entered the dormitory room was that it was completely dark. Even if Blake was sleeping, she would still have a bit of light filtering in through the curtains, but they were blocking the sun completely.

The second thing she noticed was that there wasn't a familiar form lying on the lower part of the left bunk bed, Blake's chosen spot. And third… The door to the bathroom was open slightly, and a faint but ragged breathing could be heard coming from behind it.

On instinct, Weiss closed the door behind her and rushed to the bathroom. Her deepest fears came true when she stepped inside and turned on the light.

Blake was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, shards of glass all around her. One arm pressed her knees against her chest, and the other was limp on top that one, blood leaving a cut across her wrist in small drops that splashed loudly on the floor.

The brunette was facing straight ahead of her, but she wasn't truly looking at anything. Her eyes were vacant, as if she was just waiting for something to happen, and had the will to do nothing else.

"_No_." Weiss managed to say after examining the situation for a few seconds. Her tone of voice was heavy with dread and sadness, two things she rarely expressed aloud "Blake… No."

The faunus blinked and turned her eyes to her teammate. They seemed to look straight through her, however, and after some instants she just closed them.

"Leave." She pleaded hoarsely "I need to be alone."

"No!" Weiss objected angrily "I'm taking you to the infirmary!"

The white-haired girl grabbed her friend by the shoulders and forced her to stand up. She managed to carry her outside the bathroom, but then Blake seemed to liven up, and she shoved her against the wall and backed away, like a small animal that was hurt and unwilling to let anyone nearby.

"I'm not going anywhere." She muttered darkly "I told you to leave, _so leave!_"

Weiss stared at the brunette without a clue of what to do in that horrible situation. Blake was clearly not going to comply with her demands, but she couldn't just leave her alone while she fetched the school nurse to their dormitory.

"You are one dumb, stubborn… cat." Weiss sighed, managing to stop herself from saying something worse.

She reached for Blake and dragged her along the room, forcing the brunette to sit on her bed. The heiress ripped a strip of cloth from her own uniform and grabbed her friend's arms, holding it fiercely, predicting more protests.

"Weiss, stop it!" The faunus yelled "I swear, if you don't leave me be, I'll…"

"Bleed until you're unconscious." Weiss finished the phrase dryly "I _will_ wait until that happens, if that's what it takes. Stop struggling."

Blake frowned, but finally gave in. Weiss gave her a grateful smile and tied the cloth around the area of the cut. It soaked in red in a matter of seconds, and the heiress was sure she hadn't done the best job possible, but it was all she could manage under the conditions they were in.

Weiss shook her head slowly and sat beside her friend. Blake looked away and crossed her arms, almost like a child had had her wishes denied.

"I suppose you're not going to tell me anything…" The white-haired girl muttered "But still… Why, Blake? This is… Not like you."

"Not like me?" Blake scoffed "What would you know about me, Weiss? For all you know, this isn't the first time I've done this."

"I know it's the first time." Weiss stated "You don't have any other cuts, and the way you were when I found you… Clearly, you're not used to this kind of pain."

"Yeah, and you know all about it, _Schnee_."

Blake spat the last word like it was venom, which made Weiss flinch. She was fully aware there were still many problems between the two of them, but even when she had revealed her faunus nature, Blake hadn't been so bitter.

Weiss's shoulders slumped, but after a moment of consideration, she looked at her friend and smiled sadly.

"I don't know all about it… But I have a fair amount of experience."

The brunette looked at her silently, her emotionless expression starting to show some intrigue as her teammate raised her right arm and pushed her uniform's sleeve back to her shoulder. Her skin was creamy white, but there were three scars marking it. One of them was not even a straight line: as it reached the end, it diverted to the side, almost making a quarter of the way around her arm before it stopped.

"I didn't cut near the wrists, because it would be easy to notice." Weiss told somberly "Turns out that cutting too high, however, is even stupider than normal. I lost my grip halfway through the cut, and it hurt like hell."

"I…" Blake whispered, but she was promptly interrupted.

"Those aren't the only ones."

Weiss hesitated a bit before pulling her shirt to her chest. There was a collection of scars spread through the exposed area, but Blake was quick to tear her gaze away from the sight.

"That's…" The faunus shook her head "I'm sorry. I had no idea you did this kind of thing."

"You should be glad I did, or else I would have never noticed the signs from you, and then… Well, you'd be in bad shape." Weiss said.

"Can I ask why?"

Blake immediately regretted the question. Not only was it too personal, but she didn't need to think too hard about it to have a good enough assumption. Weiss had already mentioned her family's struggle against the White Fang, and how she'd lost many people to that senseless bloodshed.

However, Weiss didn't ignore the question, or lash out. Instead, she supported her head with her hands, leaning forward thoughtfully.

"I had a difficult childhood." She explained "I know I sound like a spoiled brat. I had all the money I wanted, I've been able to visit any place in the world since I was ten… But that's never been what I wanted."

"My mother died when I was very young. The only family I had left was my father and my sister, and he managed us like two puppets." Weiss's eyes narrowed furiously "Every day, I'd learn about politics, economy… I'd attend those boring meetings between businessmen but I didn't even know their names. I'd even… Even listen to my father's men discuss the White Fang. All the while, I had a smile on my face, because that was what he expected of me."

The heiress got up and unsheathed Myrtenaster. She looked at the sword silently, making a wide arc with it before she shook her head tiredly.

"I still can't believe I managed to convince him to let me attend Beacon." She admitted "Father forced me to learn fencing, but he ended up regretting that in the end." Weiss pointed to her left eye, the one with the scar "I got this during his final test. It's the only mark in my body I don't despise."

"So… You cut yourself because of your father?" Blake asked slowly.

"I cut myself because that was the only thing I thought I could do of my own free will." The white-haired girl clarified "That was a stupid justification, of course, but I've yet to hear of one that wasn't."

Weiss faced her and leaned her head forward, and Blake understood immediately what she was getting at. She wanted to be proven wrong, to know that maybe there was a good reason for what they did.

"I…" The faunus started, but she shrunk and backed away until her back was against the wall.

Weiss waited a few seconds before getting on the bed again, moving until she was sitting right beside her friend. Blake looked away from her before she started talking.

"When I was with the White Fang, all I did was hurt innocent people. There were peaceful protests, once, but that wasn't the same organization… That was before things went bad." The brunette told quietly "I wish I had come to this conclusion sooner. When I did and left them, it was too late. I had already left my bloody mark on the world."

"But…" Weiss objected softly "That's some time ago, right? You joined Beacon, and not once since I met you have you done something like this."

"You're right. I didn't injure myself, because I was proud." Blake explained "I was sure I had changed, and that I would make up for all I did. I just _knew_ that, from the bottom of my heart. Turns out I was only fooling myself."

The heiress examined her friend curiously, not quite following what she was talking about. Had she missed something important these last days? It had been two weeks since the breach on Vale, but Blake hadn't seemed affected by its aftermath.

"I wanted to kill Torchwick." The faunus confessed.

"Oh. Well, that's…" Weiss lifted her hands helplessly "That's understandable. He _is_ a dangerous criminal, and a douchebag."

"No, Weiss, you don't get it!" Blake exclaimed desperately "I wanted to _kill_ him! Smash his skull in, crush his neck under my boot… Make him _suffer_. I'm as bloodthirsty as any of the White Fang." She buried her face in her hands "If you hadn't appeared out of nowhere… If I hadn't rushed to your aid… Then I would have done those things, and you would have seen it all."

"Can you imagine what would have happened if _Ruby_ saw that?" The brunette wondered "She would never look at me the same way. And Yang? She's my partner, but even she would be disgusted!"

They shared a heavy silence for a few minutes, before Weiss smiled sadly.

"That doesn't matter at all. It didn't happen." She stated "And it never would have. Even if I hadn't needed your help, you wouldn't have followed on that path."

"…That's a lot of faith you have in me." Blake noted bitterly.

"Well, maybe I'm just repaying a debt." Weiss suggested "You could have been an enemy to me since the first day of school, and you'd have all the reason in the world. My family's company mistreats your kind on a daily basis, but you've always tolerated me. I think it's only fair I respect you just as much."

Blake considered her words, and as she looked at Weiss, she noticed she had a true smile on her face. The faunus felt like she was seeing her for the first time… The _real_ Weiss, a girl supposedly born to all the happiness one could ever wish, but who was more damaged than those who had none at all.

"Besides, we're friends, _and_ on the same team." The heiress reminded, wanting to make the situation a tad lighter "It would do us no good to be doubting each other."

"That's right." Blake agreed "You're a great friend, Weiss. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but the act didn't fool the faunus, because she was still smiling during it.

"Can we go to the infirmary now?"

-x-

Ruby and Yang were happy to find their teammates spending their time peacefully in their room. The redhead had wasted no time before rushing to Blake's side and showering her with questions about her well-being. The faunus had patiently answered each one as they came, both grateful and amused at the attention.

"Let her breathe, sis." Yang had finally intervened after almost ten minutes had passed "Blake's fine. Besides, she's a cat. Even if she died, she still has eight more tries."

"Isn't that racist?" Ruby frowned disapprovingly.

"Do you care?" The blonde asked Blake, who simply shrugged "Nope, not racist."

Weiss got up from her bed and faced her leader.

"Did we miss anything important in class?" She questioned worriedly.

"…Define important."

The heiress sighed, and then she looked at Blake and tapped Myrtenaster, which was attached to her hip.

"Want to spar, Blake?"

Ruby and Yang looked at her weirdly. The heiress had made it very clear that she despised sparring. Of course, they had failed to understand she only despised the activity when it involved either one of them.

"Sure." Blake answered, putting away a book she had just picked up.

She got up and joined Weiss. The two exited the room, a content expression on both of their faces.

Ruby did a double take, and then she looked at her sister worriedly.

"Did that just happen?" She asked "Did Weiss and Blake go out together, only the two of them, happily, _of their own free will_?"

"I can't believe it either." Yang whistled "That'll be one hell of a wedding."

-x-


End file.
